Entertainer. She gained fame as an exuberant, plus-size comedian. Born Delia O'Callahan in Grenola, Kansas, she took her mother's maiden name for her stage debut as a chorus girl in 1889. She scored her first lead role in the musical comedy "The Little Joker" in 1894 and went on to star in the hit Broadway shows "The Belle of Bohemia" in 1900, "Sally In Our Alley" in 1903, and "The Orchid" in 1906. In her younger days, Friganza was slender and even played roles in boy drag, but as her weight grew to nearly 200 lbs. she developed a self-deprecating and these days, politically incorrect routine that centered on her figure, which she described as "a perfect forty-six". A typical Friganza joke: "How does a fat woman do the shimmy? She walks fast and then stops". From 1906 to 1932 she was a popular solo act in Vaudeville, and she later had character roles in several films, among them "Gentleman Prefer Blondes" in 1928, "The Unholy Three" in 1930, and "A Star Is Born" in 1937. Although she often spoofed herself as being homely, single, and desperate for a man, Friganza was quite a beauty, who in real life married three times and had many lovers. Advancing arthritis ended her career in 1940. She retired to a convent, the Academy of the Sacred Heart in Flintridge, California, to which she left her considerable fortune.
Entertainer. She gained fame as an exuberant, plus-size comedian. Born Delia O'Callahan in Grenola, Kansas, she took her mother's maiden name for her stage debut as a chorus girl in 1889. She scored her first lead role in the musical comedy "The Little Joker" in 1894 and went on to star in the hit Broadway shows "The Belle of Bohemia" in 1900, "Sally In Our Alley" in 1903, and "The Orchid" in 1906. In her younger days, Friganza was slender and even played roles in boy drag, but as her weight grew to nearly 200 lbs. she developed a self-deprecating and these days, politically incorrect routine that centered on her figure, which she described as "a perfect forty-six". A typical Friganza joke: "How does a fat woman do the shimmy? She walks fast and then stops". From 1906 to 1932 she was a popular solo act in Vaudeville, and she later had character roles in several films, among them "Gentleman Prefer Blondes" in 1928, "The Unholy Three" in 1930, and "A Star Is Born" in 1937. Although she often spoofed herself as being homely, single, and desperate for a man, Friganza was quite a beauty, who in real life married three times and had many lovers. Advancing arthritis ended her career in 1940. She retired to a convent, the Academy of the Sacred Heart in Flintridge, California, to which she left her considerable fortune.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
Family Members
Advertisement
See more Friganza memorials in:
Records on Ancestry
Advertisement
